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Empire Antarctica: Ice, Silence, and Emperor Penguins
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About Empire Antarctica: Ice, Silence, And Emperor Penguins
Product Description Gavin Francis fulfilled a lifetime's ambition when he spent fourteen months as the basecamp doctor at Halley, a profoundly isolated British research station on the Caird Coast of Antarctica. So remote, it is said to be easier to evacuate a casualty from the International Space Station than it is to bring someone out of Halley in winter. Antarctica offered a year of unparalleled silence and solitude, with few distractions and a very little human history, but also a rare opportunity to live among emperor penguins, the only species truly at home in he Antarctic. Following Penguins throughout the year –– from a summer of perpetual sunshine to months of winter darkness –– Gavin Francis explores the world of great beauty conjured from the simplest of elements, the hardship of living at 50 c below zero and the unexpected comfort that the penguin community bring. Empire Antarctica is the story of one man and his fascination with the world's loneliest continent, as well as the emperor penguins who weather the winter with him. Combining an evocative narrative with a sublime sensitivity to the natural world, this is travel writing at its very best From Booklist *Starred Review* How would you like to spend a winter at Halley? This was the job offer that led medical doctor and author Francis (True North, 2010) to spend 14 months as the doctor at Halley, a British Antarctic Survey station on an ice shelf deep inside the Antarctic Circle. In this lyrical book, Francis plumbs his fascination with the barren continent, the very blankness of which intrigued him, empty as it is of human history or cultural memory. Not only was the Antarctic solitude calling him, but there was also the lure of penguins—a breeding colony of approximately 60,000 emperor penguins was within snow-machine travel of the survey station. As the Antarctic winter falls and the emperor penguins begin their epic breeding season, the author writes of life in a research station in extreme conditions, 14 people lodged together for duration of the polar night. Woven into the narrative are stories from past Antarctic explorers, most notably the disaster and miraculous escape of the Shackleton expedition, as well as lesser-known biologists and their early notes on emperor penguins and the embryology of their eggs. Francis is an evocative writer; we feel the cold and the dark, revel in the silence, and find kinship with the penguins. He says to the penguins at the end, I couldn’t have done it without you. --Nancy Bent Review "It is difficult to read this engaging memoir without a smile on one's face, such is the author's enthusiasm for the world's southernmost continent and its endemic penguin species, the Emperor…Francis's descriptions of his visits to this spot, where 60,000 Emperors live in a 'great penguin jamboree,' add moments of sheer joy to this mesmerizing and memorable book."— The Economist "A highly readable, enjoyable account of one man's year serving as a doctor at Halley Research Station A keen observer of his surroundings, the author writes vividly of auroras, clouds, stars, sunlight, darkness, ice and snow A literate, stylish memoir of personal adventure rich in history, geography and science." — Kirkus About the Author Gavin Francis was born in 1975 and brought up in Fife, Scotland. After qualifying from medical school in Edinburgh he spent ten years traveling, visiting all seven continents. He has worked in Africa and India, made several trips to the Artic, and crossed Eurasia and Australia by motorcycle. His first book, True North was published in 2008. He has lectured at the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge and the Edinburgh Book Festival, and is a regular speaker at the Royal Scottish Geographical Society. He lives in Edinburgh.
